Fishers retrieve bodies of two missing teens

Fishermen of barangay Ocaña, Carcar town, retrieved the bodies of two teenagers who drowned after going swimming in a dam in Carcar town last Sunday afternoon.

Alvin Brigola, 14, of barangay Greenhills and Ryan Traya, 16, of barangay Lantawan, both in San Fernando town, went swimming last Sunday in the National Irrigation Administration dam located in sitio Langub, Can-asojan, Carcar. The dam was 60 feet deep.

The two were swimming with friends when Brigola started floundering and eventually disappeared out of sight under the water. Traya went underwater to help him but also never surfaced.

Others tried to go after the two but were prevented from doing so since the waters below were dark.

Scuba divers of the Bureau of Fire and Penology, Philippine Air Force, and the Naga rescue team also tried going down but were unable to recover the bodies after their oxygen supply and the battery of their flashlights ran out.

SPO3 Jonas Pananganan asked Mayor Mario "Patrick" Barcenas to get fishermen to do the task. Denciong Barong and Apolinario Repurmado of barangay Ocaña went to the said place with their pumpboat and compressor Monday at about 5:30 in the afternoon.

The two recovered the bodies of the teenagers after a 30-minute search and brought them to the Tupaz Funeral Homes in Carcar town.

Pananganan said that the NIA dam management has a warning sign in the area that swimming is not allowed and the boys reportedly chose to ignore it. - Norvie S. Misa